Brothers' light display in Kelso draws thousands of people, thousands of dollars for St. Jude

KELSO, Mo. -- As Brandon and Brooks Clark prepared to unveil their Christmas light display last year, their mother, Wanda, remembers them wondering if anybody would come to see the show, which was a yearlong project for the brothers.

To their surprise, the lights, synchronized with popular Christmas carols, drew thousands of people in 2009. Wanda Clark said even more, maybe 10,000, traveled to her home near Kelso to experience the lights this holiday season.

"It's phenomenal. I can't believe that we've touched that many lives," she said.

Because the family's Christmas lights were well-received in 2009 and resulted in some unexpected donations, the Clark brothers decided to collect money for a charity this year -- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

In a decorated mailbox at the display, drivers have dropped about $11,000, as of Christmas Eve, for St. Jude. Wanda Clark said that Thursday was the busiest night so far, with $1,100 collected for the research center.

"We were shocked," Brandon Clark said. "I have always been a big fan of St. Jude's. It's an organization that I thought needs it more than anybody."

Getting all 80,000 lights up -- 30,000 more than last year -- took just under three months, according to Brandon Clark, and involved installing a new transformer at his mother's home on Scott County Road 208.

After around four weeks of display, the family will begin to take the holiday lights down Saturday.

"I just get a kick out of it," Brandon Clark said about the holiday project. "There's no better feeling than putting a smile on someone's face."

The family will put on a similar display of Christmas lights in 2011, but the Clark brothers have something extravagant in store for 2012.

"It will be outrageous. In two years, we definitely want to do something out of the ordinary," Brandon Clark said.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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